Process for manufacturing slab-type chewing gum products

ABSTRACT

A process and apparatus for the continuous production, processing and packaging of a final chewing gum product. The product is extruded as a continuous tape or ribbon of material, the material is flattened into a approximate final cross-sectional size and shape, and then inserted into a final sizing apparatus. The sizing apparatus maintains the gum product in its final cross-sectional size and shape. Thereafter, the continuous strip of final chewing gum product is scored, cut into individual pieces, and individually wrapped by a standard packaging machine. The individually wrapped pieces of gum can then be assembled into sets and packaged into packs of gum.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/774,571,filed Dec. 31, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,739.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to improved making, processing andpackaging of slab/stick-type chewing gum products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The process of making and packaging of slab/stick-type gum products istime-consuming and involves significant manual handling. Slab/stick-typegums, such as Trident® gum produced by Warner Lambert, are typicallyprocessed in batch kettles, divided into chunks by hand, formed into awide, flat continuous sheet by an extruder machine, and then passedthrough rolling, scoring, and cutting machines. The sheets of scored gumare maintained in cooled conditioning rooms before they are wrapped andpackaged. The sheets of gum product are taken to a packaging machinewhere they are first divided into elongated strips and then intoindividual pieces of gum and subsequently wrapped and packaged.

Some chunk-style gum products, such as bubble gum products, are formedinto a rope-like configuration and fed directly from an extruder into apackaging machine. The product is roll formed into a generally squarecross-sectional configuration and divided into individual pieces by acutting mechanism. The individual pieces are then wrapped and packaged.One process which forms ropes of gum is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat.No. 4,940,594.

Heretofore, it has not been possible to utilize a continuous processingand packaging system for slab/stick-type chewing gum products packagedon standard slab gum wrappers. This is due to the fact that standardpackaging machines require precisely sized and conditioned gum piecesfor wrapping.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedapparatus and process for the preparation and packaging of slab-type andstick-type chewing gum.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatusand process for continuously extruding, processing, and packaging of aslab/stick-type chewing gum product. It is an additional object of thepresent invention to provide an apparatus and method which eliminatesmuch of the wasted time and manual handling of certain chewing gumproducts.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anapparatus and process for forming a final chewing gum product into anelongated tape or ribbon of material, cooling and maintaining that tapewithin certain cross-sectional dimensions, and then feeding that stripdirectly to a wrapping and packaging machine. It is a still furtherobject of the present invention to provide an apparatus which sizes andmaintains a final chewing gum product in a flat tape-like configurationso that it can be fed directly to a standard packaging machine.

The present invention provides an apparatus and process for improvedproduction, processing, and packaging of slab-type and stick-typechewing gum products. The gum product is preferably produced by acontinuous extrusion process. The resultant molten gum product is formedinto a continuous tape or ribbon of material by a second extrusionapparatus. The strand of gum material is passed through a coolingapparatus and into a final sizing mechanism. The sizing apparatusmaintains the material in a precisely dimensioned size and shapeconfiguration. The sizing apparatus includes a plurality of parallel andperpendicular rollers that form the continuously fed gum material to afinal size and finish of high dimensional tolerances. The resultantmaterial exiting from the sizing apparatus has the final specifiedcross-sectional size and shape.

Thereafter, the cooled and precisely formed continuous strip of materialis fed into a cutting and packaging machine where the gum product isdivided into individual pieces of gum product and individually wrapped.The wrapped individual pieces of gum product are formed into packs bythe packaging machine, and the packs of gum material are subsequentlyassembled together in sets for commercial sale.

The present invention achieves some or all of the following advantagesover present systems for producing and packaging slab/stick-type chewinggum products: faster cycle time, less work in progress, ability toprocess and package multiple flavors at the same time, improved processcontrol, reduced labor expense, reduction of labor intensive repetitiveoperations, reduced material handling, and less complexity.

These and other aspects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the invention, whenviewed in accordance with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a prior art process of producing aslab-type chewing gum product;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting the preferred inventive process inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, while FIG. 3A shows an alternate embodiment for a portionthereof;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a chewing gum sizing apparatus in accordancewith the present invention shown;

FIG. 5 is a top elevational view of the sizing apparatus shown in FIG.4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a portion of the sizingapparatus shown in FIGS. 4 and 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 6, withthe cross-sections being taken along line 7—7 in FIG. 6 and in thedirection of the arrows.

BEST MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention is an improvement over known processes andapparatus for producing slab/stick-type final chewing gum products in astandard wrapper. These chewing gum products typically comprise smallflat pieces of chewing gum on the order of 1¼ inches in length, ⅜ inchesin width, and ⅙ inches in thickness. Commercial products of this typeinclude the Trident® and Dentyne® products marketed by Warner LambertCompany.

FIG. 1 illustrates a known process for producing a slab-type chewing gumproduct. The process is generally referred to by the numeral 10. Oneexample of a known process is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.4,555,407.

The chewing gum is typically produced in molten masses in batch-typekettles 12, such as a Sigma-blade kettle. Processes of this type arewell-known in the art and are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,329,369 and 4,968,511.

The chewing gum base for the final chewing gum product can be producedseparately, or added to the final chewing gum ingredients in the samekettle. Typically, the chewing gum base product is produced by anotherprocess, either a batch-type or continuous extruder-type process, andsupplied to the final chewing gum kettles in solid or liquid form. Knownprocesses and apparatuses for producing gum bases are shown, forexample, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,187,320, 5,397,580 and 5,419,919. Thechewing gum base is mixed with the various ingredients of the finalchewing gum product, such as flavoring agents, sweeteners, fillers,coloring agents, softeners, and the like, and processed into the finalproduct.

The mass of final chewing gum product is removed from the Sigma-bladekettles and processed by a pre-extruder apparatus 13 into a continuousloaf of material. The material is then manually cut and divided intoindividual chunks or “loaves” 14. The loaves of material aresubsequently placed in an extrusion machine 16, either directly by handor by means of conveyor belt which inserts the loaves into the extruder.The extrusion machine flattens the chewing gum product into wide, flat,continuous sheets of product 18. These sheets of gum are typically about17¼ inches in width and about ⅙ inch in height.

The continuous sheet of gum product is then fed into a rolling andscoring machine 20 where the slab of material is scored longitudinallyinto an equal number of elongated strips, approximately 1¼ inches inwidth. After being scored, the wide, flat, scored continuous sheet ofmaterial is cut and divided by a rotary cutter into individual sheetsapproximately 17-18 inches in length 22. The sheets are conveyed througha cooling tunnel or chamber 23 where they are cooled sufficiently forhandling. The individual sheets are then stacked by hand onto wood traysand moved into a cooled conditioning room 24. The conditioning roomcontrols the humidity and temperature of the product. The stacked scoredsheets of gum product are maintained in the cooling room for anywherefrom a few hours to 4-7 days, depending on the time needed tosufficiently condition the material for packaging.

When it is desired to further process and package the chewing gumproduct, the stacked sheets are transported manually to a packagingstation 26. At that point, the sheets are divided manually (along thescore lines) into elongated strips 28 about 1¼ inches wide and thestrips are fed manually into the packaging machine 30. The machine 30divides and cuts the gum material into individual pieces of slab-typegum of final size and shape (1¼×⅜×⅛ inches) and wraps them individually32. Thereafter, the packaging machine assembles the individually wrappedpieces of gum into sets and packages them into a pack of gum 34.Thereafter, if desired, the packs of gum are assembled into individualmulti-packages (not shown) for commercial display and sale.

It is important that the individual pieces of gum be provided to thewrapping section of the packaging machine 30 in a precise size, shapeand finish. If the pieces are not precisely sized, then the wrapperswill not be applied properly or efficiently to them.

The processing steps in accordance with the present invention are shownin FIG. 2, and a schematic diagram of the processing equipment isdepicted in FIG. 3 (with an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 3A).The inventive process is generally referred to by the reference numeral40. As a first step, the final chewing gum material is produced 42,either by conventional batch kettles, or preferably in a continuousextrusion process. Apparatus and processes for continuously extruding afinal chewing gum product are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,045,325 and 5,135,760.

The mass of chewing gum material is then fed into an extruding machinewhich extrudes it into a continuous tape or ribbon of material 44. Thetape is preferably about 1¼ inches wide and about ⅙ inch (0.0167 inches)in height. Thereafter, in accordance with the present invention, thecontinuous tape or ribbon of material is subjected to cooling 46. Thechewing gum product is continuously fed into and through a coolingchamber or tunnel 46 where its temperature is reduced from over 100° F.to below 80° F.

Once the tape of gum product is cooled, it is dusted 47 with a powdermaterial, such as mannitol/trilite, to aid in subsequent handling.Thereafter, the continuous tape (strip) of final chewing gum material issent through a sizing apparatus 48 which precisely controls thecross-sectional size and shape of the gum. (The sizing apparatus is setforth in more detail in FIGS. 4-6.)

The sized tape or ribbon of material is then divided into elongatedstrips of material by a rotating cutter and submitted to a standardpackaging machine 49-50. The packaging machine divides the material witha rotary cutter into individual pieces of gum 49. The individual piecesof gum are individually wrapped. Finally, the individually wrappedpieces 50 of chewing gum product are assembled into sets and packagedinto packs of gum 52. The individual packs of gum are boxed or packagedinto bags in a conventional manner for commercial display and sale, asknown in the art.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the preferred equipment and apparatusused with the inventive process. FIG. 3A shows an alternative processwhere a batch-type process is used to make the final chewing gumproduct.

As shown in FIG. 3, the final gum base ingredients, such as the gumbase, flavoring agents, sweeteners, fillers, coloring agents, softeners,and the like, are added to a continuous extruder apparatus 41. The finalgum product 42 is fed into a second extruding apparatus 43 whichproduces an elongated tape or ribbon 44 of material. The gum product 42can be fed directly into the extruder 43, as shown, or extruded into acart or the like and then dumped or otherwise introduced into theextruder 43. The downstream end of the extruder 43 has an extrusion die43′ which causes the material to be extruded in the desired shape. Atthis point, the tape 44 is continuous and has a cross-section preferablyabout 1¼ inches in width and ⅙ inches (0.0167) inches) in height.

The tape 44 exiting from extruder 43 is at an elevated temperature(about 100° F.) and needs to be cooled approximately to room temperature(about 70-75° F.) for further processing. Thus, the tape of material 44is passed through a cooling chamber or tunnel 46. The cooling chambercan be of any conventional type, but preferably is a 9-Pass Dx unit fromGreer. Upon exiting the cooling chamber 46, the tape of material islightly dusted with a powder by sprinkler apparatus 47. The continuousmaterial 45 is then passed through the sizing apparatus 48 and conveyeddirectly to a standard or conventional packaging machine 49-50. In thepackaging machine, the material is cut into individual pieces by arotating cutter (not shown) and then the separate pieces are wrappedindividually.

In an alternative procedure, the continuous type of material 45 exitingfrom the cooling chamber 46 or from the sizing apparatus 48 can be cutinto 17¼ inch lengths. For this purpose, a rotary cutting apparatus (notshown) can be positioned downstream of either the chamber 46 or sizingapparatus 48. Some conventional packaging machines need a fixed lengthof a strip of gum product for further processing.

As indicated above, the present invention can be used with a finalchewing gum material which has been made by a continuous extrusionprocess (as shown in FIG. 3), or which has been produced by a batch-typeprocess. The latter is shown in FIG. 3A. The chewing gum product 42′ ismade in a batch kettle 54 and dumped into a cart 56 or similarconveyance apparatus. The material is then deposited into an extrusionmachine, such as extruder 43, where it is extruded as a tape or ribbon44 of a prespecified size and shape. The remainder of the batch-typeprocess is the same as that shown above with reference to FIG. 3.

Although it is noted above that the gum base material is added to thecontinuous extruder 41 or batch-kettle 54 along with the otheringredients of the final gum material, it is also possible to use acontinuous extrusion processor and prepare the final gum material in onecontinuous process. This is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,045,325 and 5,135,760. Also, if the gum base is produced separately,it can be produced by any known or conventional process, such as with acontinuous extruder or a batch-type apparatus. Production of gum baseswith these procedures are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.4,187,320, 5,397,580 and 5,419,919.

A comparison of the processes shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, show that thepresent invention substantially simplifies the gum processing andpackaging process. The invention is significantly more efficient andmuch less labor-intensive than the prior art processes. Immediatelyafter the gum product is made, it is extruded into a tape or ribbon,cooled in a cooling chamber, perfected in size in a sizing apparatus,and then immediately cut and packaged. The forming-cooling-packagingprocess takes on the order of minutes, rather than hours or days, asexperienced with prior art processes.

The present invention not only is more efficient than prior artprocesses, but improves the final gum quality and shelf life. Thequality of the final gum product is improved because it is not subjectto age effects or risks of contamination known in prior art processes.Potential for product mix up or cross-contamination with other flavorsof chewing gum products in the conditioning room are eliminated. Also,plant spaced devoted to the production and inventory of slab-typechewing gum products will be reduced.

Further, the number of packaging machines required for a continuouspackaging operation is reduced from that required with prior artprocesses. The reduction is due in part to the increase in packagingefficiencies from the increased production time and higher rates ofproduction. If the batch kettles are replaced with extrusion processingequipment, and multiple rolling and scoring mechanisms are eliminated,then the amount of capital, equipment and plant space necessary toproduce the final chewing gum product is similarly reduced. This alsosimplifies operation and maintenance by reducing the amount of equipmentthat needs to be maintained.

Further benefits and advantages of the present invention include: fastercycle times, minimization or elimination of work in progress, ability toprocess multiple flavors of gum products at the same time, improvedprocess control, reduced material handling and less complexity.

A preferred sizing apparatus used to perfect the final slab-type chewinggum product in its final form before packaging is shown in FIGS. 4-7.The apparatus is generally referred to by the numeral 48. As shown inFIGS. 4 and 5, the tape or ribbon 45 of final chewing gum product ispositioned on a first conveyor belt apparatus 64. The top of theconveyor belt is flanked by side rails 66 which help keep the materialin line. A first roller 68 is positioned over the conveyor belt 64 andused to firmly retain the tape of final gum material 45 in its shape asa flat continuous strip of material 45′. A second conveyor beltapparatus 70 is used to transport the material into the sizing apparatus48. A second set of side rails 72 are used to assist in keeping the flatstrip of material on the conveyor belt 70.

Preferably, angled or flared lead-in sections 67 and 71 are used incombination with side rails 66 and 72, respectively. The sizingapparatus 48 is preferably made of a food grade metal, such as stainlesssteel, and has an upper member 74 and a lower member 76. The two members74 and 76 are positioned one on top of the other as shown in FIG. 4 andare guided and held in place by a plurality of elongated guide pins 77(one shown in FIG. 4) and a plurality of coil biasing springs 78. Thepins 77 keep the two halves 74 and 76 in alignment. The springs 78 areused to assist in positioning the upper and lower halves 74 and 76evenly relative to one another so that the space 80 between them has aconstant dimension.

The two halves 74 and 76 are primarily maintained an equal distanceapart by a uniform leveling mechanism 82. That mechanism includes aseries of threaded pins 84 positioned in the four corners of theapparatus 48 and along the two sides. A continuous chain 86 operated byan adjustment wheel 88 is used to simultaneously turn and adjust all ofthe threaded pins 84. A pair of tension wheels 90 are also used as partof the leveling mechanism 82 in order to maintain the chain 86 intension.

The coil springs 78 are positioned in cut-out sections 92 which areprovided along both ends of the apparatus 48. The springs 78 maintain aconstant tension between the upper and lower halves 74 and 76 and act incooperation with the leveling mechanism 82 in order to maintain theaccuracy of the width of the space 80.

Three sets of parallel rollers, 94, 96 and 98 are used to roll andregulate the thickness of the strip of material 45′ inside the apparatus48. The sets of rollers 94, 96 and 98 are driven by gear members 100,102 and 104, respectively, which, in turn, are driven by primary drivegear 106 and a secondary drive gear 108. In this regard, drive gear 106is driven by chain 110 connected to motor 112. The motor 112 drives gear114 which, in turn, through chain 110, drives gear 106. Gear 106, inturn, drives gears 102 and 104 and thus drives sets of rollers 96 and98. Gear 102 also drives gear 108 which, in turn, drives gear 100 androller set 94.

Upper member 74 of apparatus 48 has a metal plate 120 connected to itwhich is positioned in axial alignment with the strip of material 45(see FIG. 6). Similarly, lower member 76 of apparatus 48 has acorresponding elongated metal plate 122 connected to it. The plates 120and 122 are opposed to each other and used to define the space 80 inwhich the chewing gum product 62 is passed through. The plates 120,122have openings 115 in them for positioning of the rollers 92,94 and 96.For ease of entrance and exit of the chewing gum material 45′ into andout of the space 80, the front and rear edges of the plate 120 and 122are angled or chamfered, such as shown by numerals 124 and 126,respectively, in FIG. 6.

A plurality of sets of vertically arranged roller/guide members 128 arepositioned in openings 129 in the flat plates 120 and 122. In thisregard, for ease of understanding, the drawings only show one roller 128in FIG. 6 and two rollers 128 in FIG. 7; however, the rollers arepositioned in pairs and preferably four sets of rollers are positionedon the sides of the gum material in space 80. The roller members arepreferably made from a metal material, such as stainless steel. Theroller/guide members 128 define the precise width 130 of the finalchewing gum product 62′.

Thereafter, the continuous strip of final chewing gum product 45′, whichhas its final cross-sectional size, shape, and finish is passed into astandard slab/stick-type gum wrapping machine 49-50. The strip or tapesof material 62′ are divided by a rotary cutter into individual piecesand wrapped. Once the individual pieces are wrapped, they are assembledin sets or packs. Thereafter, the final packages of gum are subjected toconventional handling and further processing.

While the best modes for carrying out the invention have been describedin detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relateswill recognize various alternative designs and embodiments forpracticing the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for manufacture of slab-type chewinggum comprising: producing a portion of chewing gum material; formingsaid material into a continuous tape of material having a firstcross-sectional size and shape; sizing said material to form acontinuous tape of material having a second cross-sectional size andshape; said sizing step comprising: introducing said tape of materialinto a space in a housing between an upper plate member and a lowerplate member, said upper and lower plate members forming an elongatedflat passageway through the housing; compressing said tape of materialin said space with first, second, and third roller members, said firstand second roller members being positioned in openings in said upper andlower plate members, respectively, and thereby setting the height ofsaid continuous tape of material, and said third roller member beingpositioned in said housing and thereby setting the width of saidcontinuous tape of material; and separating said sized continuous tapeof material into individual pieces of material.
 2. The process as setforth in claim 1 wherein said steps of producing and forming saidmaterial comprise mixing gum material ingredients in a continuousextruder and extruding said material through a die.
 3. The process asset forth in claim 1 further comprising the step of cooling said formedcontinuous tape of material.
 4. The process as set forth in claim 1further comprising the step of continuously wrapping said individualpieces of material.
 5. The process as set forth in claim 4 furthercomprising the step of continuously assembling said individually wrappedpieces of material into packs of chewing gum.
 6. The process as setforth in claim 1 wherein said step of separating said material comprisescutting the material with a rotary cutter mechanism.
 7. The process asset forth in claim 1 further comprising the step of adjusting thedistance between said upper and lower plate members in order to adjustthe second cross-sectional size and shape of said continuous tape ofmaterial.
 8. The process as set forth in claim 1 further comprising thestep of biasing said upper and lower plate members relative to oneanother.
 9. The process as set forth in claim 1 further comprising thestep of adjusting said upper and lower plate members substantiallyparallel to one another to form a substantially uniform space in saidhousing for passage of said material.
 10. The process as set forth inclaim 1 further comprising the steps of positioning said first andsecond roller members substantially horizontally in said housing andpositioning said third roller members substantially vertically in saidhousing.
 11. The process as set forth in claim 1 further comprising thestep of providing chamfered means on said upper and lower plate membersto allow easier introduction of said tape of material into saidelongated flat passageway.
 12. The process as set forth in claim 1wherein said first and second roller members each comprise a pluralityof individual roller members, and said individual roller members of saidfirst and second roller members are positioned in mating spaced apartpairs in order to size the height of said continuous tape of chewing gummaterial.
 13. The process as set forth in claim 1 wherein said thirdroller members comprises a first set of a plurality of individual rollermembers positioned along one side of said elongated flat passageway anda second set of a plurality of individual roller members positionedalong the opposite side of said elongated flat passageway, said firstand second sets of roller members cooperating to size the width of saidcontinuous tape of chewing gum material.
 14. The process as set forth inclaim 7 wherein said means for adjusting the distance comprises aplurality of rotatable pin members operably connected to said upperplate member, a chain member operably connecting together said pluralityof pin members, a tensioning device on said housing for tensioning saidchain member, and an adjustment member for operatively adjusting saidchain member in order to rotate said pin members and thereby adjust theposition of said upper plate member relative to said lower plate member.15. A process for manufacture of slab-type chewing gum comprising:producing a portion of chewing gum material; forming said material intoa continuous strip of material having a cross-sectional size and shape;introducing said strip of material into a space in a housing between anupper plate member and a lower plate member, said upper and lower platemembers forming an elongated first passageway through the housing; andcompressing said strip of material in said space with first, second, andthird roller members, said first and second roller members beingpositioned in openings in said upper and lower plate members,respectively, and thereby setting the height of said continuous strip ofmaterial, and said third roller members being positioned in said housingand thereby setting the width of said continuous strip of material. 16.The process as set forth in claim 15 wherein said steps of producing andforming said material comprise mixing gum material ingredients into acontinuous extruder and extruding said material through a die.
 17. Theprocess as set forth in claim 15 further comprising the step of coolingsaid formed continuous strip of material.
 18. The process as set forthin claim 15 further comprising the steps of separating said continuousstrip of material into individual pieces of material and continuouslywrapping said individual pieces of material.
 19. The process as setforth in claim 18 further comprising the step of continuously assemblingsaid individually wrapped pieces of material into packs of chewing gum.20. The process as set forth in claim 15 further comprising the step ofadjusting the distance between said upper and lower plate members inorder to adjust the cross-sectional size and shape of said continuousstrip of material.
 21. The process as set forth in claim 15 furthercomprising the step of biasing said upper and lower plate membersrelative to one another.
 22. The process as set forth in claim 15further comprising the step of adjusting said upper and lower platemembers substantially parallel to one another to form a substantiallyuniform space in said housing for passage of said material.
 23. Theprocess as set forth in claim 15 further comprising the steps ofpositioning said first and second roller members substantiallyhorizontally in said housing and positioning said third roller memberssubstantially vertically in said housing.
 24. The process as set forthin claim 15 wherein said first and second roller members each comprise aplurality of individual roller members, and said individual rollermembers of said first and second roller members are positioned in matingspaced apart pairs in order to size the height of said continuous stripof chewing gum.
 25. The process as set forth in claim 15 wherein saidthird roller members comprises a first set of plurality of individualroller members positioned along one side of said elongated flatpassageway and a second set of a plurality of individual roller memberspositioned along the opposite side of said elongated flat passageway,said first and second sets of roller members cooperating to size thewidth of said continuous strip of chewing gum material.